Disneyland Resort Update: Winter Catch-Up Disneyland Edition

Disneyland Park, Anaheim, CA

Welcome back to the Disneyland Resort, folks! It's been about a month and a half since we last stopped by here, and in that short-for-most-people-but-long-for-us time period, there has been a lot of changes around the Disneyland Resort.  So much so that we're actually breaking up our Resort update into three parts--one for each park plus another for non-park-related Resort items.  Even though our Disneyland Resort construction updates tend to run long, I had so many photos that the update was getting long even for me.  Thus, we're taking things in pieces.

First up, Disneyland Park, where "Star Wars" Land continues to progress, and the rest of the park is in full "off-season" refurbishment mode!  There are plenty of work walls all around Walt's original Magic Kingdom, so lets zip through what's going on at lightspeed!

Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

The First Order and Millennium Falcon ride/show buildings have been completely enclosed, and a lot of focus seems to be centered around the rock spires that will mark the skyline of Galaxy's Edge.  Workers have been busy installing lath and spraying the cementious plaster that will form the rockwork of Batuu, the distant outpost planet that serves as the setting of Disneyland's Star Wars expansion.  The more developed spires are even at a point where they appear ready for color treatment!

Well, lookie where we are?  It's Dinneyrand!!

It's been a little while since we've looked at this view.

In fact, the last time we stopped by, one of our readers pointed out that there must be some sort of blemish on my camera sensor, because all the photos were producing these strange, repeating, light blogs with black orbs on them.

In response, I went ahead and got a whole new camera, so hopefully, that problem has been resolved.

Anyway, we're back at the land of intergalactic combat.  Erm, of Star Wars.

They've added some red to frame out the edges of the First Order building... perhaps because they realized that an all-white building would look really boring.

Sure, this is back of house, but it would still be nice to not have to stair at a blank, plain, expansive wall.

Additional steel work has been going up for canopies and secondary structure on the public side of the building.

This is a pretty tall structure!

Looking toward the Critter Country side, it looks like they're actually back filling earth into this area of Galaxy's Edge.  I had thought it might contain more building, but instead, those walls are retaining!

Work has also started along the pathway after the Critter Country entry, as evidenced by scaffolding that has popped up in the background.

Lets teleport to the northeast corner of Mickey and Friends and get this overview of the site.

The Millennium Falcon building has been fully enclosed.

And the First Order building was enclosed already last month.

Work continues on the roof to finish off installation of mechanical units and complete the waterproofing and flashing at the parapets.

The cranes were down on Sunday, due to high winds.

There has been less progress at the great opening on the Disneyland Drive side of the First Order building than I would expect, although, the landings for emergency exit stairs have finally started showing up on the right half.

Most of the visible progress seems to be focused around the rockwork.  More on this in a bit.

First, lets zoom in closer to the Millennium Falcon building, which has gotten a lot of HVAC installed on its roof.  And they're big units!

The back wall appears to jog upward, higher than the Disneyland Drive-facing wall.  Interesting.

But the most substantial development since we last checked in has to do with all the rock spires.  They've been covered with lath/mesh and even plaster in some cases.

The progress looks great, though I'm a bit concerned that Disney will pull an Everest and not completely finish the rock on the back of house side, even though people driving down Disneyland Drive will totally see exposed structure.

See the gaps in the rockwork on the left?  That's the type of thing we criticize Universal for doing.

So we'll see how things shape out here.

Moving further down, we see more rockwork infrastructure, plus more steel to support it.

New Star Wars rock in front vs completed Big Thunder Mountain rock in the back.

At least these geological spires will look awesome from inside the park.

Can't wait to see how all of this finishes out.

I'll get some shots from inside the park next time to see how that angle compares.

The big penthouses are also getting finishing touches.

From ground level...

From inside the park, bits and pieces of construction progress can be glimpsed from places like Big Thunder Trail.  But still not a whole lot!

Main Street Retracking

An extensive refurbishment of the horse-drawn street cars on Main Street has commenced and is expected to last the next month and a half or so.  For the first time ever, the complete track is being replaced, with brick pavers highlighting the track course similar to the pavement pattern on Buena Vista Street.  This job will occur in two segments.  Currently, the majority of Town Square and The Hub have been walled off to allow the replacement of track and pavement in those respective areas.  After that is done, the length of Main Street itself will receive its streetcar track makeover.  If you want pretty photos down Main Street, U.S.A, you're going to have to wait till March!

Town Square has been walled off.

Main Street is undergoing a transformation that will result in new track for the horse-drawn carriages.

The pavement will be torn up and replaced with a combination of asphalt and brick pavers.

The actual Town Square pedestrian areas appears to remain untouched, but it's needed for contsruction lay-down area.

Sorry, no pretty views for photographers from here for a little while.

But it'll only be for a few months.

A peek of the groundwork being done.

The work walls have some fun facts about the history of select Main Street attractions.

As Disney typically has been doing, refurbishment of a historical part of the park has brought signage on work walls detailing a bit of park history.

The result of construction has narrowed walkways, so expect some extra congestion while this project is going on.

For now, most of actual Main Street remains at full width, though.

But that will change once the Town Square portion is completed.

At the other end of Main Street, walls are up around The Hub too.

This means no unobstructed views of the tabebuia trees in bloom this year.

The walls wrap all the way around The Hub.

Signage here explains a bit about park design as Walt intend too.

Plus a bit more regarding the streetcars.

Looking forward to how this all turns out!

Fantasyland Refurbishments

Fantasyland is seeing its fair share of upgrades too.  Dumbo is receiving a relocated queue and new shade structure and will be down through the early spring period.  In addition, the mall area in front of It's a Small World is receiving some significant refreshing in the form of a new queue, adjusted parade route and entrance, and a new stroller area.  The changes are designed to improve guest circulation through the park, similar to the changes in Adventureland last year.  These small gestures are undoubtedly being done in part to address existing crowd issues but also to prepare for the crush of people once "Star Wars" Land opens a year and a half from now!

It's a Small World is currently closed for its annual after-holidays reversion to its regular, non-Christmas iteration.

But work will continue on the Small World mall even after the ride reopens.

A reconfigured pedestrian path, stroller area, ride queue, and parade route is in store.

I wouldn't expect anything too drastic.  Just more of gestures that may be subtle but help improve guest flow.

This will be complete no later than April, in time for the Pixar Play Parade to debut in its new Disneyland location.

Small World is quiet and empty now.

Though interestingly, the lights and air conditioning seem to be on still inside.

Over by the heart of Fantasyland, Dumbo the Flying Elephant is currently under refurbishment.

The work walls block off access between both sides of Fantasyland through the walkways between King Arthur's Carrousel and Dumbo.

So keep that in mind... pedestrian flow technically re-routes around the Carrousel and packs people in a bit more.

Casey Jr. Circus Train is still open, though.

And when this work is done, Dumbo will have a revised line and new shade structure for those waiting to ride.

Finally, due to the return of drought conditions, the Matterhorn has turned off its flowing water to save on resources.

Okay, not really, but that sounded believable, right?  Matterhorn's not down.  The waterfall was just off for some reason on Sunday.

As you can see, it was pretty dark by the end of these photos.  So not photographed are the fact that Haunted Mansion has returned to its regular, non-Nightmare Before Christmas self.  In addition, Splash Mountain is down for its annual mid-winter refurbishment.  The flume at the drop actually seems like it's been disassembled more than in prior years too, so it appears that there's a bit more TLC being applied this time.

That does it for construction at Disneyland Park for this week.  But we've got similar updates from Downtown Disney and Disney California Adventure coming up.  Plus, we'll still be taking a look at DCA's Lunar New Year celebration, and we'll round out the week with a look at Knott's Berry Farm's Peanuts Celebration.  Yes, it may be the off-season, but as Southern California theme park goers know, there really is no true off-season anymore.  There's always something going on, which at least keeps things fresh for us locals!